Discover the best curiosities and hidden details in the series The Office. If you are a fan of the series The Office you have to read this list of curious facts and details where some of the anecdotes and easter eggs of The Office are revealed.
75 FUN FACTS about THE OFFICE
- John Krasinski and B.J. Novak went to high school together. They went to Newton South High School in Newton, Massachusetts, and they both graduated in 1997. They were even on the same little league baseball team.
- When John Krasinski (Jim Halpert) got the role of Jim, the first thing he asked the casting director was “did Jenna Fischer (Pam) get the role?” Similarly, when Jenna got the job, the first thing she asked the casting director was about John getting the role.
- The computers on the Dunder Mifflin office set were wired for the internet. Cast members admitted that when they’re in the background of scenes, they were often checking e-mail and surfing the net.
- Jim would have spent an estimated $7,000 to $10,000 pranking Dwight across the entire series.
- Jenna Fischer (Pam) and Angela Kinsey (Angela) are best friends in real life.
75 FUN FACTS about THE OFFICE
- The show had to stop production in November 2007 because of a writer’s strike. Steve Carell (himself a WGA member) supported the writers, and refused to cross the picket lines, even for non-writing duties. Carell went so far as to call in sick to the network on the first day of the strike, citing a case of “enlarged balls” as the reason he couldn’t come in to set.
- Steve Carell only watched a few minutes of the British version before permanently stopping such viewing because he did not want to copy Ricky Gervais’ performance as the office manager. John Krasinski and Rainn Wilson, on the other hand, were avid viewers of the original.
- Rainn Wilson originally auditioned for the role of Michael Scott before being cast as Dwight Schrute.
- Some of the video used in the opening theme song specifically the exterior shot of the building was taken by John Krasinski and his friends in their Jeep. John had just gotten the part and was coming out for shooting.
- A pilot for a Dwight centered spin-off called “The Farm” was shot. NBC passed, and the pilot eventually was aired as part of the final season.
75 FUN FACTS about THE OFFICE
- Paul Lieberstein’s role as Toby Flenderson was meant to be a one-time appearance, since Lieberstein had never acted before, and never actually wanted to because of his quiet, reserved personality. However, NBC President Kevin Reilly saw the episode where Toby appeared and reportedly said “That red-haired guy is terrific, we should see more of him.” Toby then became a recurring character, and the cast and crew have repeatedly lavished praise on Lieberstein’s acting abilities, and he has allowed the role to expand somewhat while remaining abashed by the attention it’s brought to him. Notably, Toby has no or few lines or story presence in any episode that Paul Lieberstein writes or directs.
- On the day of his audition, Leslie David Baker had another audition lined up and opted to go to that one first. But on his way back to auditioning for this show, he ran into traffic. Combined with being sweaty, his clothes being rumpled and in a cranky mood, Baker’s audition for Stanley had gone the way the character was written that day, which was in a bad mood. Baker was cast two weeks later, based on being cranky in that audition.
- According to Rainn Wilson’s memoir The Bassoon King, Steve Carell has overactive sweat glands, which created some interesting production challenges. The on-set temperature had to be kept at 64 degrees in order to keep Carell from soaking and staining his clothes. Space heaters were eventually brought in to keep the rest of the cast from freezing.
75 FUN FACTS about THE OFFICE
- Carol was played by Steve Carell’s real-life wife, Nancy Carell.
- When John Krasinski first auditioned for the show, he was called back for the role of Dwight. He told the producers that he would rather play Jim, but they refused to allow it. After a suitable Dwight was found for the show, Krasinski was allowed to come in for the role of Jim.
- John Krasinski revealed on the podcast ‘The Office Ladies’ (hosted by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey) that after the show wrapped, he kept the Teapot Jim gifted to Pam along with the Dunder Mifflin sign that hangs on the wall by the main entrance to the office.
- Four of the regularly appearing secondary characters have the same first name as the actress or actor who plays her or him: Angela (Angela Kinsey), Oscar (Oscar Nuñez), Phyllis (Phyllis Smith), and Creed (Creed Bratton). Interestingly, Creed shares his entire name (and a large chunk of his history) with his character. They are both called “Creed Bratton.”
- Ed Helms missed seven consecutive episodes on season nine, because he was shooting R3sacón (2013). His absence was explained in that his character (Andy) went on a three month long boat ride with his brother.
75 FUN FACTS about THE OFFICE
- A couple of times throughout the series, Angela (Angela Kinsey) mentions that her favorite song is “Little Drummer Boy”. At the beginning of the Pilot (2005) episode, Dwight (Rainn Wilson) is singing that song at his desk.
- Poor Richard’s Pub, a bar to which the gang often refers in the show, is a real bar located in the South Side Lanes bowling alley in South Scranton.
- Steve Carell has said that “It took like 10 years after it went off the air for people to fully embrace” the show, which never ranked higher than 41st in overall viewers for any of its 9 seasons. “I’m telling you, nobody cared about it when it was on the air,” Carell said. “It had a core following of several hundred people.”
- To keep the mockumentary style going, crew mistakes were intentionally left in episodes to give the series a more realistic feel.
- Throughout the series, each time we see Creed (Creed Bratton) at his desk, he is playing Spider Solitaire; Meredith (Kate Flannery) is playing Klondike.
- Netflix’s most streamed show of 2020.
75 FUN FACTS about THE OFFICE
- Angela Kinsey is described by her fellow co-workers as the complete opposite of her character (Angela Martin).
- Bloopers are available on YouTube for almost every season. Rainn Wilson (Dwight Schrute) finds it especially difficult to maintain character in scenes with Steve Carell (Michael Scott) and John Krasinski (Jim Halpert). Krasinski also seems to find Carell highly amusing (as do most of the rest of the cast- 99 percent of the laughter related bloopers involve him unintentionally cracking someone up). On the other hand, Oscar Nuñez (Oscar Martinez) hardly ever breaks character. The few times he does are brought to attention by other cast members in the blooper scenes.
- Season 5 episode 10 “The Surplus” Hank, the security guard, when asked to help make the decision for the staff regarding buying a new copier or new chairs for the office, reaches for some Skittles on Pam’s desk. This is an in-joke because the actor who plays Hank (Hugh Dane), at the time the episode aired, starred in a famous Skittles commercial which ran in America and the UK.
- The phrase, “That’s what she said” is said 49 times throughout the series; Michael says the phrase 34 of those times.
75 FUN FACTS about THE OFFICE
- Creed Bratton composed the theme music to Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey’s “Office Ladies” podcast.
- In 2019 Jenna Fischer & Angela Kinsey started an Office re-watch podcast entitled ‘The Office Ladies’ in which they discuss one episode each week giving behind the scenes information, trivia and answering fan questions. They also have special guest appearances from episode directors & cast mates.
- It is frequently mentioned that the characters Phyllis Lapin Vance and Michael Scott are the same age, having gone to high school together. In real life, Phyllis Smith is eleven years older than Steve Carell.
- Four of The Office cast members were interns on Late Night with Conan O’Brien (1993): Angela Kinsey in 1993, Mindy Kaling in the winter of 1999, John Krasinski in summer of 2000, and Ellie Kemper in spring of 2005.
- The Office’s address is 1725 Slough Avenue. Slough was the name of the town in which the original version of the show takes place. There is no actual Slough Avenue in Scranton.
75 FUN FACTS about THE OFFICE
- The “Welcome to Scranton” sign featured in the opening credits, formerly located on the Central City Expressway, is now on display in the food court of the Mall at Steamtown. It is displayed with a backdrop so that people can get their picture taken with it. It was moved there when the city replaced the old signs with new signs.
- According to Rainn Wilson, he modeled Dwight’s hairstyle after his own hairstyle when he was a teenager in the 1980s.
- Michael Scott has a “Certificate of Authenticity” on his wall that states he is the “Proud Owner of a Quality Seyko Timepiece”.
- Paul Giamatti, Martin Short, Bob Odenkirk, and Hank Azaria were considered for the role of Michael Scott. Odenkirk portrayed a nearly exact copy of Scott at another office shown in the series.
- Greg Daniels wanted as little crew as possible on set to give the atmosphere a more relaxed feel. During the filming of the pilot, Daniels had only himself, a cameraman, and a boom operator present.
- Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin) originally auditioned for the role of Pam.
75 FUN FACTS about THE OFFICE
- The cast is frequently seen on-screen drinking cans of Crystal Club soda (various flavors, Jim seems to prefer their grape), which is made in Scranton by the Crystal Club Soda Water Company.
- One of the dogs Andy (Ed Helms) adopts during his breakdown is also featured in Parks and Recreation (2009) as Champion, Andy (Chris Pratt) and April’s (Aubrey Plaza) three legged pit bull.
- Originally, Steve Carell was unavailable to play Michael Scott, as he was already committed to Come To Papa (2004). As a result, Bob Odenkirk was selected to play him, and was a part of the cast when the show was presented to NBC executives.
- Many main and supporting cast members have written episodes of the show. B.J. Novak (Ryan), Paul Lieberstein (Toby), and Mindy Kaling (Kelly) wrote twelve of the twenty-eight episodes over the first and second seasons (albeit separately). (Lieberstein directed season four, episodes seven and eight, “Money”.) Steve Carell (Michael Scott) wrote two episodes: the season two finale, “Casino Night”, and season four, episode eleven, “Survivor Man”. Season two, episode eight, “Performance Review”, was written by Larry Wilmore, who played Mr. Brown, the diversity instructor. Michael Schur, a seasoned writer, played Dwight’s cousin Mose Schrute. Gene Stupinsky and Lee Eisenberg, two writing partners, played the delivery men in season two, episode sixteen, “Valentine’s Day”, and others. Greg Daniels, the developer and show runner, played Michael’s neighbor in season two, episode three, “Office Olympics”, but his scene was cut.
- Phyllis Smith (who plays Phyllis Lapin-Vance) came onto the show as a casting director, and often read lines with actors during auditions. She was found to be so perfect for the role of the matronly Phyllis, that she was cast.
- The first season was filmed in office space located just above a soundstage at the Chandler Valley Center Studios. The soundstage was often used to replicate the Dunder Mifflin warehouse, most notably in season one, episode five, “Basketball”. For the second season, an exact replica of the original office was built on a soundstage right next to the warehouse set in the same building.
75 FUN FACTS about THE OFFICE
- Michael has a Union Jack Flag on his desk that appears in various shots, as an homage to The Office (2001).
- Originally, after the show was first picked up, NBC planned on retitling the series, “The American Workplace”, in order to differentiate it from the original British version. The idea was later scrapped. But when the documentary aired in season nine, it was called “The Office: An American Workplace” Outside of America it is called “the US office”.
- Creed Bratton, played by Creed Bratton, was originally supposed to be a background character that did not have any lines but they needed someone for Michael to fire so they let Creed talk.
- James Gandolfini was offered the role of replacing Michael Scott, following Steve Carell’s departure from the NBC show in 2011. He turned it down after receiving 3 million dollars from HBO. Michael Imperioli speculated that HBO did not want Gandolfini to appear on the sitcom either to maintain the legacy of “The Sopranos” or because Gandolfini was working on the HBO limited series “The Night Of” at the time.
- In The Alliance (2005), Meredith is said to be an accountant. This is the only instance in which she has this job, as she becomes the Supplier Relations Representative for the remainder of the show.
75 FUN FACTS about THE OFFICE
- Angela Kinsey (Angela Martin) and Oscar Nuñez (Oscar Martinez) knew each other for years before being cast as their characters. They had no idea each other was cast until the first table read. Kinsey said on the Office Ladies podcast that she was immensely relieved to see her friend and made the experience more comfortable.
- The exterior shot of the building the office is “in” in Scranton, Pennsylvania is across the street from a bar which is coincidentally named “The Office”. Greg Daniels has said that he hopes this is a sign of good karma for the show. The Office (the bar) was condemned by the city in 2011.
- All of the principal characters have had their full names revealed throughout the series. Michael Gary Scott; Dwight Kurt Schrute III; James “Jim” Duncan Halpert; Pamela “Pam” Morgan Beesly; Ryan Bailey Howard; Andrew “Andy” Baines Bernard (Born Walter, Jr.); Kelly Erin Hannon; Angela Noelle Martin, and Kelly Rajaniganda Kapoor.
- Ricky Gervais, who played Michael Scott’s counterpart, David Brent, in the English version of the show, The Office (2001), made a cameo in The Seminar (2011) and again in Search Committee (2011) although “The Seminar” is his only in person appearance as his appearance in “Search Committee” is via video conference only.
- It is the most watched licenced TV show on Netflix According to Nielsen rating